Page 19 of On the Line

She looks out at the water, and I let her think.

“I’m not asking you to move in with me,” I say. “I’m not even asking you to move to Mercury Ridge.”

“Okay.” She’s smiling a little now, so I smile back.

“I’m just asking you not to drive home tomorrow and forget all about me.”

“I could never forget you, Liam.”

“That’s good,” I say honestly. “But I also don’t want this to just be a memorable summer fling. I want more.”

She looks back at me. “I live three hours away.”

“I have a truck. If you can’t come to me, I’ll come to you.”

“You hate Charlotte.”

“I hate the traffic in Charlotte. That’s different.”

She laughs softly, and I reach for her hand. “I’m serious. I want to see you again.”

Her fingers curl around mine. “This is fast.”

There’s no denying that. “Yep.”

“You don’t seem too bothered by that.”

“I’m not.”

“How?”

I shrug. “I’ve spent the summer watching my buddies fall in love one by one, seemingly overnight. Now I know it really can happen like that.”

She looks down at our hands for a long time. Finally, she says, “This whole thing started out as a fake relationship. Now, I don’t know what it is.”

“Me neither. But I want more of it.”

She goes quiet again. I lift her hand and kiss her knuckles.

“We don’t have to figure it all out today,” I tell her. “Just… come back to me. Please.”

A smile spreads slowly across her face. “I could probably do next weekend.”

The relief is so big it’s embarrassing. “Good.”

“You’re looking at me that way again.”

“I can’t help it, beautiful.”

“Stop it. I’m here to fish.”

I laugh, picking my own rod back up. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

She narrows her eyes at the water and then at me. “Challenge accepted.”

Ten minutes later she reels in a bluegill about the size of my palm and carries on like she landed a marlin. I take pictures, and she makes me text her every one of them. Then she kisses me so hard I nearly drop my phone in the lake.

She keeps my favorite lure, too. I let her.